TENUE - Territorios CD

Recorded in the summer of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and “an increasingly authoritarian world where the approach to the people we love has become even more complex”, Territorios (territories in English) is the latest offering from the Galician three-piece Tenue.  Released on March 31st through at least ten labels on various formats, and clocking in at 29 minutes and 29 seconds, this record consists of one single track. Loosely described as neo-crust, punk and screamo, or “emo-crust” as Tenue say themselves, it may seem odd initially to see a project of this length without the words doom or post-rock attached to it. One might assume that maybe what the band have done is present a whole load of songs as one track as a gimmick or to try and stand out. That is not the case. This is one song.  There are elements of crust, screamo, hardcore and much more on display here! The most impressive thing about Territorios is, however, how one movement flows into the next, without ever feeling like one song has ended and another has begun despite how different one part is to the next. To have a track continue in this vein for so long without relying on glacial tempos to fill the run time is no mean feat. On the contrary, this record boasts d-beats, frenetic screamo passages, blast beats and two-step hardcore beats underneath fuzzed-out guitars, thick bass and larynx abusing vocals between the sections of inventive and invigorating riffs and hooks they pepper throughout the piece.  In its essence, Tenue do allow a little room for respite however, around the halfway mark, they begin stripping back layers of instrumentation before building in intensity and ripping it up all over again. Once you reach the epic climax of the track, it’s hard to believe that the journey started nearly 30 minutes ago, because with so much to keep your attention they manage to keep you guessing where they are headed next and the time really flies by as a result.